Day 02: Mer (RVP Month)
by QuickSilverFox3
Summary: Silvery flashes littered the once sparklingly clear water as numerous humanoid shapes cut through, leaving pale bubbles in their wake. The Mer twisted and turned around one another, creating complex patterns that disappeared in a heartbeat and with every pulse of the nearby current from which more appeared, with grins revealing sharp teeth and clawed hands. RVP


**Thank you to everyone who read the first one! I am insanely proud of this one so I hope you all enjoy it too! :D**

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Silvery flashes littered the once sparklingly clear water as numerous humanoid shapes cut through, leaving pale bubbles in their wake. The Mer twisted and turned around one another, creating complex patterns that disappeared in a heartbeat and with every pulse of the nearby current from which more appeared, with grins revealing sharp teeth and clawed hands.  
The warm water enveloped Matthew, gently rocking him like a mother's carress as he worried his bottom lip incessantly, mind focused, not on the Mer frolicking just around the corner, but on his own uncertain and unchangeable fate.

"I don't want to go," he whispered to no one, his bubbling words lost to the current like the patterns before it. He liked it here, in the cool clear Artic waters of his homeland, but sadly his opinion mattered very little when it came to the will of the King and his newest infatuation. And Matthew was sick of being nothing more than a pretty face in the grand chess game if politics.  
The blaring of trumpets reclaimed his attention and he started, eyes widening as he tried to see what was happening. He could recognise the regal firm of his father from a fathom away and Matthew let out a quiet snort, before relaxing back onto the rock which was his perch in the roaring current.  
"Hey Matthew!"

Matthew jumped, slipping from his seat for the second time in as many moments. A wordless scream escaped from his mouth as the rock moved a fraction, stress caused by Matthew's powerful movements proving too much for the ancient structure. Claws dug into the pitted surface as Matthew tried to desperately cling on, but his grip slipped and the current tore him away in front of Al's eyes, one tanned arm still outstretched to grab hold of Matthew. And then he was gone, lost in the once comforting water with no way of escape even for a Mer.

The wet sand was cold in the early morning against the bare skin of Matt's feet as he clamped across the sand, boots in one hand and satchel in the other as he traversed the seashell ridden sand until he reached the rock pools which jutted out into the deceptively deep dark blue sea. With a low grumble, he eased himself down, hissing when a low puddle was encountered by one hand, covering his skin in goosebumps.  
With a quick flick of his wrist he pulled the hair bobble out from underneath the cuff of his checkered over shirt and pulled his long wavy hair back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, unconsciously scowling out at the sunrise as his gaze shifted to the bag which lay innocently next to him.

"Might as well get started," he said, unbuckling the bag and pulling one of the many copies of paper out from within and began to read it aloud to the empty beach and sky, "A duplicated chromosome consists of two sister chromatic which are joined by a centromere."  
He continued to read the notes aloud, pulling his sunglasses down from the top of his head to cover his eyes when the sun broke through the heavy clouds to shine, glaringly bright down at the small alcove. The gentle waves lapped at the side of the pool, occasionally catching Matt with flecks of white foam and cold water, a vast improvement over the heavy storm of the night before. Something cold brushed the nape of his neck where the beginning of a tattoo could be seen and Matt raised a hand to brush the water away.

Bare skin encountered a curious salt encrusted finger which was wrenched away as the owner shot back into the pool, fully drenching Matt who let out a howl at the unexpected shower.  
"What's a Mer doing here of all places?" Matt said aloud, more out of habit than expecting an answer. But he received one anyway, delivered in a shy voice which bubbled out of the depths, imperceptible to mortal ears, a fact for which Matt was extremely grateful even though the beach was empty.  
"I got caught in a current and then the storm hit, this was where I got washed up to."

A blush covered Matt's face at the adorable voice and covered his face with one hand as he busied himself with pushing the paper back into the depths of the bag.  
"You're lucky it was me that found you and not some fisherman with a spear gun," Matt said roughly, carefully leaning over the edge of the pool and peering into the depths, trying to catch a glimpse of the Mer. His unspoken wish was granted as a flicker of movement caught his eye and the man carefully rose to the surface, a faint blush covering his cheeks as Matt's jaw reflexively dropped at the vision of beauty that had appeared before him.  
"Is something wrong?" Matthew asked, hand wringing together underneath the water as the man did nothing but stare, mouth agape.  
"Sorry," Matt mumbled before a glint of metal woven into the Mar's tangled blonde hair caught his eye and he carefully reached out a hand,  
keeping one eye on the Mer to gauge his reactions.

It was a simple iron chain, flaked and dented after years of use and harsh salty water but it was more than that. It was a symbol of power, proof of the strength of sea over the land and a testament to the lives stolen to forge it.  
"Hello Prince Matthew," Matt said quietly, inwardly cursing his luck. Even if he hadn't checked and rechecked that that part of the curse wasn't still active, he still seemed to be plagued by extreme bad luck on occasions just like this.  
Matthew froze, only his tail flicking in order to keep him in the suffocating air as he gently rested his hands on the rock, next to Matt's knees before he carefully tilted his head to one side causing Matt's hand to rest against the side of his head, almost as if the Mer was being petted like a cat.

"How did you know that?" Matthew whispered, cautionary tales from his childhood beginning to surface in his mind, "Are you going to steal my voice or my tail or hair?"  
Matt chuckled, shaking his head before slowly standing up in order to not startle the increasingly skittish Matthew and turning away to secure the bag, any keeping an ear open for any sign of movement from the other. Matt stepped up to the edge of the pool, just next to where Matthew remained, frozen.  
"My name's Matt, Prince," Matt said with a small smile before leaping into the water, feeling the change flow through him like a refreshing blast of cold water before the shock of sea water hit him.

Matthew blinked, a frown on his face as he after at the ripples on the surface of the water where the strangely adorable man had just disappeared. A brush against his fin caused a screech to rip from his throat and he was out of the comforting water and onto the rocks, causing numerous small cuts to litter his tail.

A smooth dark head rose out of the water, nostrils opening as air entered the seal's lungs and an apologetic look passed across his face as he carefully maneuvered across the pool and raised himself partially out of the water, reversing their position of earlier. Matthew wriggled closer, slipping back into the water and carefully stretching out one hand to stroke the wet fur and giggling as the seal butted his hand playfully.

"You're the cursed selkie," he whispered, understanding filling his mind. It was a story that was passed around amongst the Mer communities, a tale of caution for the children to want them of the dangers of land and of Man who moved across it. Selkies were well known for losing their skins to humans and becoming enthralled to them, but one tale stood out amongst the others. A king had seen a selkie on the beach as he was trapped in a rock pool, waiting for high tide. He had approached the trapped selkie and demanded his skin or he would cut the selkies head off as a trophy. Death or enslavement. But the selkie fought back and in the struggle, the knife was lodged into the Kings chest to the horror of his guard. But with his dying breath, the selkie was cursed to remain by the pool until their skin was willing surrended to someone of the Kings blood.  
"How long have you been by this pool?" Matthew asked, diving underneath the water in order to talk to the selkie properly as the seal rested his head in the Mar's lap. Matthew stroked the thick fur as Matt let out a bark in answer, rubbing his whiskers against Matthew bare stomach.  
'It feels like it was forever, but I can't remember. His line would return occasionally and demand my skin but they won't get it. If I remember correctly one of the descendents married into your line,' Matt answered, bubbles spilling from his mouth and forming words which filled the water.

"I think you're very brave," Matthew said, a faint blush covering his cheeks as Matt raised his head to look curiously at him, "I wish I could have the strength to stand up to someone like that."  
"Why?' Matt asked, settling back down onto Matthew's lap.  
"I've been asked to marry someone from one of the tropical regions and I don't want to leave," he said with a frown and tipped his head back to stare at the light filtering down from the surface.  
'Then don't,' Matt said simply before nudging Matthew's cheek and swimming back towards the surface with effortless movements, his human shape rolling down his body like water as he scrambled out on unsteady limbs, followed slowly by Matthew.  
"How?" Matthew asked as he broke the surface, barely even noticing the scratch news of air in his lungs as Matt retied his hair and settled down to star intently at Matthew, red covering his cheeks for a moment before he spoke, dropping his gaze.  
"I could teach you how to gain legs. It's not that difficult, even for Mer," he offered, occasionally sneaking peeks at Matthew's shocked face from underneath long lashes.

"Yes!" Matthew blurted without a moments hesitation and grinned happily up at the blushing other. Matt coughed, mumbled to himself for a few moments before letting out a sigh and slipping back into he water, retaining his human shape.  
"Okay, the first thing is-"  
Unconsciously one hand drifted up to fiddle with the seal skin band wrapped around his hair and for the first time in his life, he contemplated giving it away, to a blushing rebellious Mer Prince with an angels face and a silvery laugh.


End file.
